Reinforcing international cooperation through strengthened support in the health and medical sectors - JICA President Kitaoka had a dialogue with Professor Kent Calder of Johns Hopkins University

Reinforcing international cooperation through strengthened support in the health and medical sectors - JICA President Kitaoka had a dialogue with Professor Kent Calder of Johns Hopkins University

On Aug. 25, JICA President KITAOKA Shinichi held an online meeting with Professor Kent E. Calder of Johns Hopkins University (director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies), as a part of the research project on International Cooperation in the Post-COVID-19 World, which aims to explore effective ways of international cooperation through discussions with experts and intellectuals both inside and outside Japan.

At the beginning, Dr. Kitaoka invited Dr. Calder to give his views about the following three key questions of the research project, from the perspective of international politics and geopolitics:

1.What lessons can we learn from the corona crisis?
2.What will the world look like after COVID-19?
3.How should Japan and JICA contribute to the construction of a better world?

Dr. Calder introduced the analysis of East Asian countries' responses to the outbreak of COVID-19, conducted by the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies. He gave his insights into the deepening relationships of China with Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, which was foreseen in his book entitled "Super Continent: The Logic of Eurasian Integration." He also discussed the challenges of rebuilding international cooperation by analyzing the political situation in the United States.

Dr. Kitaoka shared his views on the impact and challenges of the outbreak of COVID-19 in developing countries in Asia and Africa, while also introducing JICA's efforts in the health and medical sectors, including disease prevention by hand washing practices. Dr. Calder agreed with the importance of international cooperation by Japan and JICA in these sectors, and suggested the potential for cooperation with partners including the United States.

In addition, Dr. Calder pointed out the importance of intellectual exchanges, such as promoting understanding of Japan through dialogue with universities in developing countries. Dr. Kitaoka agreed, sighting JICA's program to provide opportunities for government officials of developing countries to study at graduate schools in Japan. Dr. Kitaoka also introduced JICA's initiative to promote Japanese studies at leading universities in developing countries.